The $100,000 Tuna Fish

By Robert Frank

A Japanese bluefin tuna that fetched nearly 10 million yen at the year-opening auction is shown at Tokyo

Art, wine, cars, houses and just about everything else once purchased by the wealthy is declining in value. Except fish.

Bluefin tuna, to be precise. According to an Associated Press article, two sushi bar owners in Asia teamed up to spend $100,000 on bluefin tuna at a Tokyo fish auction Monday. That works out to roughly $370 a pound–more than 10 times the average price and the highest paid in nearly a decade. The 282-pound catch was hauled in from northern coast of Oma.

The buyers, a Hong Kong sushi-bar owner and a Japanese competitor, decided to team up to buy the big fish together. The fact that there are wealthy diners in Asia willing to pay more than $370 a pound for bluefin (with the markup it will probably be closer to $600) is certainly an encouraging sign for the sushi economy — if not the housing market.

Why the huge price? Apparently rough weather at the end of December has lowered the number of domestic Bluefin catches. Plus, Japan and other countries have agreed to cut their Bluefin catch quotas over concerns about the species’s survival.

Before you all head out to go tuna fishing, be warned: American Bluefins aren’t nearly as prized. They are fetching only about $50 a pound.

About The Wealth Report

The Wealth Report is a daily blog focused on the culture and economy of the wealthy. It is written by Robert Frank, a senior writer for the Wall Street Journal and author of the newly released book “THE HIGH-BETA RICH.”